The new children’s picture book Puddles of Ithaca by author Richard Davison chronicles a bygone era missing from today’s Americana. Reading Mr. Davison’s book is like a journey into a Norman Rockwell painting. What is provided for the reader is a brief look into our past, a time when life was immeasurably simpler. This was the pre-Sputnik period. People had no cell phones, few had TV’s, milk was delivered twice per week to the front door in glass bottles, children who played in the communities were actually known by their neighbors, the drive-in-movie theater entertained whole families, and movie houses offered ¢.50 three-hour Saturday afternoon matinees for the kids. Towns still had corner grocery stores and pharmacies had soda bars. Such is the setting of Mr. Davison’s new book.
Puddles of Ithaca is a story of young boy – it so happens the boy is the book’s author – set during this idealic time in a small town in Upstate New York. The boy is given a choice by a neighbor of selecting a puppy from a dog’s litter. Puddles of Ithaca is a delightful short story of the relationship that develops between this boy and his dog. It even has a heroic moment when Puddles saves the family from a house fire. For parents who might want to share with their young children a wonderful view of America that is lost to our yesteryear, Puddles of Ithaca provides this opportunity. Enjoy!

My Puddles of Ithaca had access to places like this, in the photo: Waterfalls. All she had to do was take off and go in back of the Ithaca College Infirmary near woods on our street, Willets Place, off East Buffalo Street in Ithaca, and go down the trails to the water, the paths, and then relax in the cool water and view the beautiful sights. Ithaca College was, in those years, on East Hill, and is now on South Hill. Both Ithaca College and Cornell University dorms, fraternities and sororities surrounded us, plus wonderful neighbors who helped make our childhood years like none other! This waterfall is a symbol of all the waterfalls one can find in Ithaca and the surrounding areas. This type of scene holds many memories for all of us who were children (and pets) in beautiful Ithaca, New York.